The NuLu Sustainability District has been hard at work. In 2016, a small business building characteristic and energy efficiency survey was completed, in partnership with the University of Louisville. In 2017, there will be a strong focus on neighborhood engagement in support of increased opportunities and access to energy efficiency and sustainability in NuLu. The 2016 survey identified a strong baseline of information, including custom energy savings opportunities for many locally-owned, small businesses in NuLu. The 2017 engagement work will link the opportunities to save money with implementation actions and programs, along with actual dollars saved.

photo by:
Andy Snow

Small scale commercial buildings in NuLu are home to businesses of all sizes. (Louisville, Kentucky)

Recently, the Louisville Metro Council passed an ordinance to establish a Jefferson County-wide Energy Project Assessment District (EPAD) to encourage increased energy efficiency in Louisville. The EPAD Program is a tool that allows property owners to leverage and repay private loans for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation projects through a voluntary assessment in the same manner as one pays for property taxes (similar to the growing movement of Property Assessed Clean Energy programs across the country). The new program is a strong move towards a more sustainable Louisville and will certainly solve some of the challenges property owners run into when weighing the pros and cons of implementing efficiency or renewable projects. In fact, through EPAD, property owners may finance up to 100% of their project’s cost. Moving forward, the NuLu Sustainability District will look for opportunities to integrate the use of EPAD into future projects.

Save the Date: The first NuLu small business sustainability engagement opportunity of 2017 will take place on Wednesday, March 1st and will serve as a broad and informational “Greening Your Business” workshop. The workshop is co-organized by: Louisville Downtown Partnership, Louisville Metro Sustainability, Preservation Green Lab, and Midwest Clean Energy Enterprise.